TradeTribe operates in the MLM cryptocurrency niche.

TradeTribe’s website domain (“tradetribe.xyz”), was privately registered on April 4th, 2024.

Heading up TradeTribe we have co-founders “Trader Jake”, Brian Rhodes, Tim Waider and David Mercado.

BehindMLM came across the Jake –> Rhodes –> Waider trio last year as the faces of Capitalium.

Brian Rhodes is a US national and serial promoter of MLM crypto Ponzi schemes. Originally from the Missouri, Rhodes has since relocated to the Dominican Republic.

BehindMLM first came across Rhodes in 2022 as a promoter of Biman Das’ FastBNB Ponzi scheme.

After FastBNB collapsed we ran into Rhodes again with Easymatic and QunoMine. Other collapsed MLM Ponzi schemes Rhodes has promoted include CoinMarketBull, Vortic United and InvesableAI.

Tim Waider, from Ukraine, made a name for himself in One World Network before joining Total Life Changes in 2020.

By April 2021 Waider was promoting MLM crypto Ponzi schemes like EtherConnect on YouTube:

Since then MLM Ponzi schemes Waider has promoted include Nimbus Platform, FastBNB, BitMonsters and InvesableAI.

Prior research into Capitalium led me to believe Master Trader Jake was from Hungary. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to pin down his actual name.

A Twitter post from earlier this year from Waider suggests “Master Trader Jake” is from Croatia.

Tradixis is yet another collapsed MLM crypto Ponzi scheme that Waider and “Master Trader Jake” were attached to.

Australian authorities issued a Tradixis securities fraud warning on July 5th, 2024.

TradeTribe promoters are also citing “Master Trader Jake” as a “Croatian trader”:

Prior to presenting himself as Capitalium’s Master Trader, Jake was flogging 1529% annual returns through JetBot.

David Mercado is another US national.

I wasn’t able to confirm Mercado’s involvement in Capitalium. Circa 2016 though, Mercado was promoting United Games. It seems sometime after that Mercado got involved in MLM crypto fraud.

Capitalium went on to collapse a few months after launch in September 2023. Following a brief reboot as NewCo in March 2024…

…TradeTribe was launched the following month in April.

Read on for a full review of TradeTribe’s MLM opportunity.

TradeTribe’s Products

TradeTribe has no retailable products or services.

Affiliates are only able to market TradeTribe affiliate membership itself.

TradeTribe’s Compensation Plan

TradeTribe affiliates invest tether (USDT). This is done on the promise of advertised passive returns:

  • Basic – invest 500 USDT or more and receive 10% a month
  • Premium – invest 5000 USDT or more and receive 15% a month

If a TradeTribe affiliate pays 250 USDT for a “VIP Package”, the above ROI rates are increased by 5%.

The MLM side of TradeTribe pays on recruitment of affiliate investors.

Referral Commissions

TradeTribe pays referral commissions via a unilevel compensation structure.

A unilevel compensation structure places an affiliate at the top of a unilevel team, with every personally recruited affiliate placed directly under them (level 1):

If any level 1 affiliates recruit new affiliates, they are placed on level 2 of the original affiliate’s unilevel team.

If any level 2 affiliates recruit new affiliates, they are placed on level 3 and so on and so forth down a theoretical infinite number of levels.

TradeTribe caps payable unilevel team levels at five.

Referral commissions are paid as a percentage of USDT invested across these five levels as follows:

  • level 1 (personally recruited affiliates) – 8%
  • level 2 – 6%
  • level 3 – 3%
  • level 4 – 2%
  • level 5 – 1%

VIP Package Commissions

If a TradeTribe affiliate pays 250 USDT they qualify for higher returns.

TradeTribe uses 250 USDT VIP Package payments to pay commissions using the same five-level deep unilevel team referral commissions are paid through (see “Referral Commissions” above).

ROI Match

TradeTribe pays a ROI Match on passive returns paid to downline affiliates.

TradeTribe’s ROI Match is paid out using the same five-level deep unilevel team referral commissions are paid through (see “Referral Commissions” above).

Joining TradeTribe

TradeTribe affiliate membership is free.

Full participation in the attached income opportunity requires a minimum 500 USDT investment.

An additional 250 USDT fee adds a 5% bonus to monthly passive returns.

TradeTribe Conclusion

TradeTriber pitches consumers on passive returns of up to 20% a month, purportedly generated via “Master Trader Jake’s” trading efforts.

Your first MLM due-diligence red flag is “Master Trader Jake” hiding behind a pseudonym.

Your second MLM due-diligence red flag is TradeTribe committing securities and commodities fraud.

Two of TradeTribe’s co-founders are US nationals. In the US securities are regulated by the SEC. Commodities trading is regulated by the CFTC.

As per the Howey Test, TradeTribe’s business model constitutes a an investment contract:

  1. TradeTribe affiliates invest funds with the company (a “common enterprise”);
  2. this is done on the promise of up to 20% a month (“a reasonable expectation of profits”); and
  3. said profits are purportedly generated through the efforts of “Master Trader Jake” (“the efforts of others)

TradeTribe’s investment opportunity being an investment contract constitutes a securities offering.

Registration with the CFTC or equivalent national regulator is required due to “Master Trade Jake” purportedly generating returns via trading.

A search of the SEC’s Edgar database reveals TradeTribe and its co-founders are not registered. Neither is TradeTribe or its co-founders registered with the CFTC.

As of June 2024, SimilarWeb tracked 100% of TradeTribe’s website from Austria. Securities in Austria are regulated by the FMA.

TradeTribe fails to provide evidence it has registered with the FMA. Thus, at a minimum, TradeTribe is committing verifiable securities and commodities fraud.

The SEC warns consumers that securities fraud and Ponzi schemes go hand-in-hand. With no verifiable source of external revenue, it’s highly probably TradeTribe is simply recycling invested funds to pay ROI withdrawals.

As with all MLM Ponzi schemes, once affiliate recruitment dries up so too will new investment.

This will starve TradeTribe of ROI revenue, eventually prompting a collapse.

The math behind Ponzi schemes guarantees that when they collapse, the majority of participants lose money.

Look no further than Capitalium’s collapse to see this process in action.